November 1, 2010

My friends Theresa volunteers at Dreamcatcher’s in Colorado and recently shared an amaizing story with me on Hippotherapy (check out my facebook page for a great video to go with this).

The main purpose of hippotherapy is promote of sensory processing and neurological and musculoskeletal function, using the horse’s movements to provide sensory stimulation to the rider. The intention is to promote a normal neural influence that will override the abnormal neural signals. The sooner proper neural function is attained, the better the prospect of continued normal development. Hippotherapy is always performed with one rider and a licensed occupational, physical, or speech therapist.

One reason this approach works is because the children are actually having fun in the process. All children like to have fun! The child automatically learns to accommodate to the horse’s particular gait pattern. That is why the each child is carefully paired up to a specific horse.

Theresa is luck enough to get to watch these sessions at Dreamcatchers. Do you know somebody that has benefited from Hippotherapy? Tell us about it!